Greetings

Jan 29, 2007

[From the 50th State] In this season's designer collections, the line between the East and the West is blurred as Asian-inspired silk print shirts and kimonos mingle with classic summer trousers and suits. To celebrate the trend, Esquire went halfway across the Pacific to Hawaii, where cultural commingling has been a way of life for centuries

The People

1. Born and raised on Oahu, Henry Kapono (left, whose last name means "righteous") has played alongside musicians like Dizzy Gillespie. Slack-key guitar music, indigenous to Hawaii, has been around longer than the blues, and Makana, right, is considered the greatest living player. From left: Rayon shirt by Y's for Men Yohji Yamamoto; cotton trousers by Yohji Yamamoto. Two-button single-breasted linen suit by Givenchy; rayon shirt by Jean Paul Gaultier.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

2. World-class bodysurfer Mark Cunningham rides the twenty-foot pipe with no board to speak of, just his body and the wave. Two-button single-breasted linen-and-silk suit, cotton shirt, and linen-and-silk tie, Polo by Ralph Lauren; leather loafers and hat by Gucci.

3. Charlie Walker has been making custom surfboards for devoted riders for more than thirty years and is credited with inventing the "snapback turn" move in the eighties. Double-breasted linen suit by Gianfranco Ferré; cotton shirt by Paul Smith. Her dress by Diane von Furstenberg.

6. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa got his big break in Bertolucci's The Last Emperor and has since appeared in Mortal Kombat, Pearl Harbor, and Planet of the Apes. Silk kimono and leather belt by Gucci; cotton trousers by Yohji Yamamoto.

Finn Armstrong, a North Shore regular, poses with two hula dancers in the shadow of Diamond Head in Kapiolani Park. Two-button single-breasted cotton suit and cotton shirt by Calvin Klein; leather loafers by Hermès. Dresses by Alberta Ferretti. For store information see page 229. Produced by FX Productions. Hair and makeup by David Cox for Bumble & Bumble New York. The best new clothes, how to wear them, and where to buy them: esquire.com/style.

The Places

1. Starting in the late 1930s, Vladimir Ossipoff spent fifty years designing commercial and residential buildings in and around Honolulu, including distinctive low-slung homes like the Liljestrand residence, which was featured on a 1958 cover of House Beautiful.

2. The Moorish-inspired waterside home of deceased tobacco heiress Doris Duke (pictured with her first husband, James Cromwell, circa 1935) has been converted into an Islamic art museum, just opened to the public this winter (4055 Papu Circle; 808-734-1941).

3. The Sheraton Moana Surfrider, originally called the Moana-Seaside, is a breathtaking century-old grand hotel standing sentry on the beach at Waikiki, ten minutes from downtown Honolulu (2365 Kalakaua Avenue; 808-922-3111). A more modern majesty may be found at the Halekulani, Waikiki's favorite luxury hotel, with its famous two-hundred-dish Sunday brunch (2199 Kalia Road; 808-923-2311).

4. Duke's Canoe Club at the Outrigger Waikiki Hotel, named after surfing legend and Olympic swimming champion Duke Kahanamoku (pictured with some fellow enthusiasts), is the best beachside restaurant for tasting old Hawaii (2335 Kalakaua Avenue; 808-922-2268). Locals prefer Indigo, full of raucous and friendly regulars there for the Eurasian cuisine and marked lack of tourists (1121 Nuuanu Avenue; 808-521-2900). But everyone agrees on Chef Mavro, the Pac-Rim-Provençal perenially rated best on Oahu (1969 South King Street; 808-944-4714).